Public unions go after Norcross

Donald Norcross, state senator and brother of George the Camden County Democratic party boss, says he will be resigning as president of the New Jersey Central Labor Council effective Labor Day after 16 years in the job. Politickernj says it comes a week after public employee union leaders asked for his expulsion. Donald Norcross said he had no knowledge of that. Politickernj says a letter signed by CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton, who called Gov. Christie a Nazi outside the Statehouse during a rally. His behavior was condemned and it hurt the public employee union image. The web site said other signers represented Professional Fighters of New Jersey and the Fraternal Order of Police. They’re upset that Norcross voted for pension and benefits reform. Norcross said he had no regrets, “We were in a position where we could either let the system crash and burn or take action. We took action, and we have saved the life for those pensioners because of what their leaders didn’t do.”

The building trades unions — the non-public workers like electricians and pipefitters and ironworkers — seem to have a different opinion. “New Jersey’s building trades are proud to stand with Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Donald Norcross, Assemblyman John Amodeo and the many other worthy candidates who did not follow the NJ State AFL-CIO’s wishes on one issue,” said New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council President Bill Mullen.

Sweeney, who has been affiliated with the ironworkers union most of his working life and has been calling for reform for six years, was harassed by public employee unions when he first broached reform.

Earlier this week, a police union member sued Assemblyman David Rible for voting for reform, saying it violated his oath to the police union.

Would the public employee union have preferred Norcross and Rible stood by and let their pension funds go bankrupt? This is the kind of thing that would make voters think twice about electing anyone with a union association. They would always wonder if that person was upholding his office and duty to the people or a union oath.

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About Bob Ingle

Bob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption" and "Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power". He has won numerous journalism awards and is often a news analyst on radio and television. Twitter @ bobingle99.

9 Responses to Public unions go after Norcross

Norcross and Sweeney can not be on both sides of the fence. You are either pro union or not. As for the building and trade unions they are protecting Sweeney because of the prevailing wage laws. Let see what happens when Sweeney is forced to choose between “Whats right for the taxpayers” and saving prevailing wage laws that cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year. Next move should be remove Sweeney from the iron workers or CWA push to do away with prevailing wages. Lets not forget Sweeney has been around a while, he has voted to raid the pension funds, has ignored the laws he made requiring funding the pension. He is not the hero he makes himself out to be he is part of the problem!

too bad the public unions didn’t get their wish to block pension and benefit reform. the whole bloated system would have gone belly up in the near future and they would then get nothing. who would they blame then?

Jony, whose side are you on? “You are either pro union or not” is the cry of the outcast public worker unions. Trade unions have been distancing themselves from public unions for years, and it appears the tie has been completely severed here. You have a pension now because Sweeney stood up for you, which is more than your union can say. It doesn’t sound like the ironworkers are going to touch Sweeney, from the tone of this letter. You don’t run this state anymore. Any politician who is associated with NJEA, CWA, AFSCME, etc, is finished. Their career is over.

I do not agree. Especially in the context that is brought out above.
This statment and the few situations cited above are being judged on some crazy scale of absolutes. This is overly simple and it is the type of stance you find with people promoting extreme views.

Sometimes there isn’t just a black or white position. You can support a union and still be responsible. You can support a union but have an issue with one or two specific stances. This “all or nothing” tenent is BS and would promote everyone to follow in line like mindless drones. It is a position that demands unquestioned loyalty and obedience to “the leaders” and denies common sense, morality, ethics, intelligence, and individuality. It is the type of system that reduces people to sheep and the top dogs as the masters.

Never compare a public union and a private union. Both FDR and AFL Head George Meaney said that a public workers union do not work. A private workers union represents the workers vs. management. There are just two sides at the table. With a public union, you have two sides at the table, but you have the public union putting pressure on management in the form of votes and campaign cash. This is unfair to the non-government working taxpayers who are assuming that their elected officials are doing arms length negotiations. In the case of Jon Corzine and Carla Katz, they weren’t even [Censored by the writer] length.

Once again you all ignore the obvious-if the state had lived up to its obligations these past 18 years, we wouldn’t be in this situation. There is no denying this simple fact, except of course, for the Chrsitiebots who think all is well in Trenton.

The point you seem to miss is: Tax payers are forced to pay double and triple on EVERY publicly funded project to cover the cost of prevailing wage laws made by Sweeney. That law was Sweeneys law! Thats ok? Sweeney voted to allow the state pension to be raided year after year, he never stood up and forced the state to make their contrubution to the pension fund. Then when after more than a decade of this he turns and says the CWA is at fault for the pension issue. He reformed nothing! Part timers are still in the system, double dippers like him are still in the system and the state still has not made its required contribution, and no laws passed to prevent the fund from being raided. The B/S about the state being broke, let see, 268 million to a casino, 800 million to urban areas O to the pension.

With the stench of corruption wafting from the halls of the legislature,I guess that conflict of interest is barely noticeable. Why do union members/representatives get to vote on matters pertaining to unions?

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